Barcelona’s Camp Nou Could Get A New Name In 2018

‘A rose by any other name would still smell as sweet,’ I certainly never expected to start a sports story with that famous quote, but would a stadium like the Camp Nou still be as majestic with a new name? We’ll soon find out.

In recent years clubs selling the naming rights to their stadium has become all the rage as football in especially England has moved closely towards the Americanism that has produced the likes of Mercedes-Benz Superdome, Bank of America Stadium, Levi’s Stadium and so on.

From memory the first such stadium on these shores was Bolton’s then Reebok Stadium and for most sides it started when a team got a new stadium but York City, for example, changed Bootham Crescent to the Kit-Kat Crescent and back again once the deal was over.

There’s something about changing the name of a stadium that just doesn’t feel right but that’s what Barcelona are hoping to do with the Camp Nou in 2019 when the stadium has had work done to it.

According to Spanish newspaper Sport the Catalan side are looking to sell naming rights before work starts on the stadium in the summer of 2019 with the deal set to be confirmed at the beginning of next year.

The paper reckons that the deal would be for roughly €200 million, or just short of one Neymar, and could overtake New York Jets and Giants MetLife Stadium as the most lucrative stadium sponsorship in the world.

The Camp Nou will be getting a new ‘surname’ according to the report suggesting that it will keep the Camp Nou part of its name, so the McDonald’s Camp Nou could be the future.

Barcelona are developing the stadium to have a new capacity of over 100,000 and the roof on the stadium is set to cover all of the stands once work is complete.

The work will not disrupt any Barca matches and is expected to be finished in time for the 2020/21 season and the naming rights will no doubt cover the cost of the work and more.